@Anthony if you got slapped and didn't do anything about it then yes, you basically got owned, it's humiliating in many places. Rationalising it as a police matter doesn't make it less so.

I think both @Kilisi and other commentators are right in some respects. If that bully keeps on going and you got witnesses, you can go and escalate it with seniors/HR. Unfortunately if I would see, for example team lead from last job, coming at me and flailing his arms, I'd either run and call police (treat it seriously) or defend myself. Remember: Critical thinking and common sense work for seconds for some people. Pepper-spray sensation stings long after effects wear off.

If you get into a physical altercation at work you are going to get fired. I dont care who started it.

@Chad it wasn't at work, unsure why you think it was, but if someone slapped me at work I'd slap them straight back (or more likely punch them), and the manager and bosses better care who started it, because everyone has the right to physically defend themselves even if it is at work. Would you let someone stab you as well?

It was a work event... same thing as at work. And no they wont care who started it they will just get rid of who ever they know (or admits) to hitting even if it was self defense. You have a legal right to defend yourself. That does not mean that I want a hothead that gets in fist fights working for me.

@Chad Whatever works for you mate, I just go with reality, been there and seen it more than once in several industries. I do not expect men to be cowards, or women either for that matter, and I don't like bullies.

@Chad Depending on location, if you fire someone for defending themselves at work as you said, you might have trouble at hand for so many reasons. First you failed as a boss during team event to do your job and take care of employees. Second you mention right to defend yourself buuut no hotheads on the team. Train of thought suggests you might fall into that category.

@Cthulhubutt - A single slap is alot different than an aggressive and persistent assault. If you feel the need to go to fisticuffs over a slap then yeah you are a hot head. I am not saying it does not deserve response or that the slap was appropriate but two wrongs do not make a right.

You're a bad boss and not very logical, he only knows it's a single slap because he did nothing, it could just have easily been a flurry of blows leaving him unconscious, when physically attacked, defend yourself. Don't wait to see if they'll stop at one, make them stop.

I think a lot of the commenters here have never been assaulted. Your right to swing your hands around stops where my body begins. If you assault me, I will make damn sure you can't persist. The fact that this happened in the bar after the assailant had been drinking would only serves to punctuate the point.

I think these comments show a pretty strong cultural divide. In my organization in Canada anyone involved initiating or retaliating with violence at a work function would likely be out the next day. That said when I was living in Korea, pretty much anything that happened under the influence of alcohol at a work drinking function was acceptable venting.

@Myles maybe it's a age gap thing as well? Because I worked with a Canadian chap in a NZ forestry job a long time ago, and he had very fast hands and no hesitation using them in self defense and that was on the job, never mind work functions after hours.. By what your saying both the aggressor and the guy who got hit would lose their jobs regardless of whether he retaliated?

@Kilisi Ya I really don't think anyone who answered violence with violence would have a job the next day. I suppose life threatening risk would be a different story though. In current work environments in Canada your buddy would have a hard time holding a job. It kind of mirrors what's happened in schools in N America. When I was a kid, two elementary school kids fist fighting might get detention. Now they would likely get a mediated conference with both sets of parents and a guidance councilor. The level of socially acceptable violence has dropped significantly over the past 25 years.

@Myles possibly not in India where the OP is though, Asians tend to put a lot of emphasis on 'face'

@Kilisi Which comes back to my point on cultural divide. I imagine most commenters are coming at this from a "Western" perspective where acceptable levels of violence are very low so even retaliatory violence would be unacceptable.

@Myles I'll take your word for it, I'm not keen on experimenting by slapping a Canadian forestry worker around :-)

@Myles Actually, I think you're greatly underestimating how much it has changed in N.Amer. Even 15 years ago when I was in school, retaliating in a fight would get you at least suspended and likely arrested and expelled. And this was in the Southeast USA, which tends to be more conservative that other parts of the country.

What I learned from this is that @Anthony is not someone I trust to have my back. This is old school advice, I like it!